I am just back from the SPMA meet where all the top finisher were wearing the latest generation tech suits,mostly B-70s(or were named Jeff Commings.)I have here to for been in favor of the suits,but now I am not so sure.First,they eliminate the old bench marks.I went my fastest 100m BR in 5 yr in my LZR,but it was only .3 sec faster than I did untapered 5 wk earlier in my first swim in the LZR.So was my swim good or not,I'm not sure.Also,instead of focusing on technique or pace I found myself ruminating over aspects of the suits,how many more swims did the suit have,is it the right size,was the reason I didn't get better results from my B-70 because it was too big?etc.The B-70 has somewhat mitigated the "too expensive,not durable" problem,but for how long.
Lets say a company comes up with a suit that is much faster,say 4 sec/100.Further that it is very expensive(say $1000) lasts 4 swims and is very hard to make so that quantities are always limited and the fastest way to get one is to bid up to $3000 on ebay. Now lets say your nemesis has one,or that getting one is your best chance to get TT or AA or a ZR or WR,or that your child is close to making JO cuts,or finally beating his/her nemesis etc. Is it worth it and where does it stop?
Former Member
One more thing, there has been(maybe still offer) a fin racing competition around the world, where people can use fins, snorkels and tech suits. So, this idea has been thrown out there already
As I've said previously, if you really want to swim faster through the use of mechanical assistments, just go out and buy a set of paddles and flippers instead of a so called tech suit.
Paddles and flippers are a drastically more efficient -and drastically more economical than a tech suit.
If the makers of paddles and flippers lobbied FINA to make them legal and allow them to be used in the Olympics, world's records would fall like flies.
Dolphin 2
And if you bothered to actually read anything that Paul Smith or several other EXPERIENCED swimmers have said..."if you are swimming faster with paddles on, then you are dropping your elbows on the catch" So, to put it in layman's terms for you, if you are swimming faster with paddles, then you have stroke flaws.
Go back to your hole and leave the swimming to people that actually have competed and still compete.
As I've said previously, if you really want to swim faster through the use of mechanical assistments, just go out and buy a set of paddles and flippers instead of a so called tech suit.
Paddles and flippers are a drastically more efficient -and drastically more economical than a tech suit.
If the makers of paddles and flippers lobbied FINA to make them legal and allow them to be used in the Olympics, world's records would fall like flies.
Dolphin 2
Tech suits are nice. A lot can afford the lesser or maybe better grade yingfa suits for such a low price the excuse of not affording a good suit to swim in becomes a bit less "wide".
In reviewing this endless discussion, it seems that the people who have the biggest problem with tech suits are those that really wouldn't benefit from them much at all (i.e. slow).
Are there any Top 10 swimmers who share the view they are the demise of swimming? From what I've seen, the fastest swimmers have embraced technology changes in the sport. Actually, it's probably that way in all sports. It also strikes me that the fastest swimmers have been swimming since they were kids and therefore have a greater right to claim the purist argument than others, yet don't do so. Maybe the claim of purist is from cheap people who aren't very good to begin with.
Random thoughts.
I have yet to hear a rational argument that, all things being equal, the man or woman in a tech suit is the superior athlete over the man or woman in a tank suit. The tougher athlete is the one wearing the least protection. And the laurels should go to the tougher athlete, not the better-protected, or the better-sponsored, or the more moneyed.
It's fine, laudable even, if you want to be "tough" in OW. But your comments make no sense in a pool setting. In the pool, the "laurels" go to the fastest swimmer. Most of the fastest swimmers wear tech suits of some kind.
...Human swimming is such an amazing accomplishment because it requires man to adapt the mind and body to the aquatic environment.
Accordingly it should be done like a fish.
Dolphin 2
Until humans grow gills, it will never be done "like a fish".
I'm as slow as molasses in January, my 100m time is in the 2:05 range, but I have had to PULL OUT TO PASS PEOPLE WHO WERE WEARING WETSUITS OR USING FINS AND PADDLES.
If suits, paddles, fins etc., create such a difference, then why weren't these even slower swimmers able to keep up with me??? Answer: because no suit or device can compensate for really bad technique.
Hey Pwolf66
None of the comparisons you make have any relevant comparison to athletic swimming.
Dolphin 2
And ladies and gentleman, we now have the answer that wolf and geek have been asking for weeks now, "what does dolphin know about athletics and is he really just being a torn?"
The answer is in his reply to Wolf.
Hey Pwolf66
None of the comparisons you make have any relevant comparison to athletic swimming.
Fish do swim but you don't see them playing football, golf, tennis, or bowling.
Human swimming is such an amazing accomplishment because it requires man to adapt the mind and body to the aquatic environment.
Accordingly it should be done like a fish.
Dolphin 2
It isn't a choice for serious competitors. You either use a fast suit and win or use a slow suit and lose.
Why don't you give 46 year old Dennis Baker a call about your very insightful quote above...I guess going a 4:38+ 500 yd free unrested and in a drag suit a couple weeks back pretty much flushes your credibility...not that you have actually had any but its been entertaining.
